1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an energy absorber designed to protect the occupants of a vehicle during a collision. More specifically, the invention relates to an device that absorbs energy from a collision involving a structural member of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
An important issue facing vehicle manufacturers involves providing increased protection to vehicle occupants in the event of a collision. In recent years, some manufacturers have started adding energy absorbing members, or energy absorbers, to their vehicles. Such energy absorbers are typically positioned between a structural member of the vehicle body and one or more interior trim pieces. For example, an energy absorber may be positioned between the B-pillar and an interior trim piece covering the B-pillar. Other structural members where energy absorbers are typically installed include the A-pillar, the roof rail, the bumpers, and so forth.
During a collision involving a vehicle, occupants may move from their initial position with respect to the vehicle and impact one or more interior trim pieces such as a door trim panel, an A-pillar cover, a B-pillar cover, etc. If one or more energy absorbers are positioned between the interior trim pieces and structural members of the vehicle, the energy absorbers may reduce the likelihood of injury to the occupants.
There are, however, several disadvantages with known energy absorbers. For example, honeycomb structures produced from either paper (e.g., kraft, NOMEX® etc.), aluminum, or plastic have been used as energy absorbers. However, the potential for moisture absorption makes paper honeycomb undesirable for long life applications. Aluminum honeycomb is expensive to manufacture, and is also subject to corrosion and conductivity of heat and electricity. Plastic honeycomb is both difficult and expensive to manufacture. Moreover, honeycomb structures in general typically only perform well in a single impact direction. If the honeycomb is struck off-axis, its effectiveness is reduced considerably.
Moreover, in some vehicles, an adjustable turning loop (ATL) assembly may be positioned between the energy absorber and the interior trim member. The ATL assembly is part of the seat belt assembly, and consists of a turning loop portion and a height adjusting mechanism. The turning loop portion routes a shoulder belt portion of the seat belt over and across the shoulder of an occupant of the vehicle. The height adjusting mechanism allows the vertical position of the turning loop to be adjusted by an occupant of the vehicle, and includes a track portion and a slidable carriage which moves within the track portion.
There are cost and design issues associated with attaching known energy absorbers to an ATL assembly. For example, the track portion of an ATL assembly may be shaped differently (straight, curved, etc.) in different vehicles. It is desirable to provide an energy absorber that will conform to the shape of the track portion. Therefore, different energy absorbers must typically be designed for different types of vehicles.
Accordingly, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an energy absorber that will absorb energy from a collision even if the impact force is off-axis (i.e., not exactly perpendicular) to the energy absorber. It would be a further advancement in the art to provide an energy absorber which may be fabricated relatively easily at a lower cost than existing energy absorbers, and which may be used in conjunction with different ATL assemblies. The present invention provides these advancements in a novel and useful way.